Earthly Arts

Back from the kill on this lovely rainy April morning;) Here in Berkeley we are finally having a wet winter instead of drought :-) spring seems to be a few weeks behind previous years. Right now I'm harvesting brassicas, asparagus, beets, nettles, salad greens. I'm thinking of tomato planting tomatoes in a few weeks. Last year I planted my tomatoes in March!

I don't know what is happening this year with the trees in the Berkeley area. Many of my fruit trees are coming into production 6-8 weeks ahead of the usual schedule. I can't believe I am getting some Fuyu Persimmons on September 1st! The squirrels are starting to attack them as they blush orange so I am bringing some in the house to ripen in the kitchen in small batches. My Hachiya Persimmon is also doing the same! I am wondering if perhaps we have a big wet or cold winter coming, or if the trees are responding sharply to 4 years of drought.

Earthly Arts Farm will be on this fabulous tour again this year. Please Come check out what people are up to on their urban farms! I also desperately need volunteers for 2-3 hour shifts to sit at a table in the shade and register friendly farm-curious folks for the tour at my farm. You get to visit other gardens for free. Please pm me if interested. Thanks!!!

Monarch caterpillars in the Earthly Arts Garden on Asclepius (Milkweed) Plants. Such a joy to provide nature habitat for creatures big and small:)

Animals on the farm have great benefits. Our resident ducks and rabbit produce wonderful droppings for the compost piles. They eat lots of unwanted produce: the imperfect leaves with holes or the dirtiest, outermost leaves that aren't worth washing because of the amount of water it would take to get them onto our plates... The ducks also devour earwigs, pill bugs, moth caterpillars, slugs and snails. And they are fun and soft for kids to play with! What is more precious than a boy and his duck?